Kidnapping Charges Dismissed

Kidnapping and conspiracy charges against a Phillipsburg man, his son, and a Luzerne County deprogrammer were dismissed yesterday when the two remaining witnesses against the trio refused to testify.

Samuel Adamo, 67, and his son Anthony, 36, of 244 Mercer St., and Joseph P. Alexander Jr., 33, of Hunlock Creek, Luzerne County, were scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on those charges, and others to be filed by Palmer Township police at 9 a.m. yesterday before District Justice Walter Auch of Palmer Township.

But the charges were dismissed shortly before 9:30 at the request of Asst. Dist. Atty. John Spirk. He told Auch that Larry Keiper and Chris Blomquist, the two men who gave the police the information on which the charges were based, refused to testify "under any circumstances."

Thomas Cardell, one of the Palmer Township police who investigated the alleged kidnapping of John Adamo, told Auch, "We were unaware of this until 20 minutes ago."

Auch, who requested a written statement of the reasons for withdrawing the charges, noted that much time and publicity has been devoted to the matter. "What has been alleged here in the affidavits is certainly illegal - not conduct to be condoned," Auch said, "but I have no other alternative than to accept" the motion for dismissal.

Grace Adamo, Samuel's wife and the mother of Anthony and John, said, "I didn't expect it, but I'm very thankful."

Bernard V. O'Hare, who represented the Adamos along with George Heitczman, said, "It's not surprising, because the charges against the Adamos were completely unjust in the first instance. There was no kidnapping, there was no conspiracy to kidnap . . . no evidence from the outset. The charges were brought in the heat of the moment," O'Hare said, and after cool reflection, they were dropped.

However, the attorney representing Blomquist and Keiper said that he advised them not to testify because he feared they might become "scapegoats" in the incident.

Samuel and Anthony Adamo attended the hearing along with Mrs. Adamo and former Easton Police Chief John J. Mazzeo, Samuel's brother-in-law. John Adamo did not appear at the hearing.

John Adamo, 27, who spent time in an Iowa City, Iowa, rehabilitation center for persons who have undergone cult deprogramming, had indicated earlier that he would not press charges against his father, brother and Alexander.

"John Adamo was interviewed by the prosecution," Spirk said. "He doesn't consider himself to be a victim, and he does not wish to pursue charges."

Keiper and Blomquist, with whom 27-year-old John Adamo had lived and worked, had told police that the Adamos, Alexander and others had kidnapped John Adamo early on the morning of Dec. 12 as they traveled home from the downtown Easton ceramics store where they worked.

They said they stopped to help a seemingly disabled van blocking Lehigh Drive that morning. John Adamo was grabbed and forced into another van, which sped away. Alexander pushed Blomquist to the ground, Blomquist said, and Keiper fired a gun before the pair gave chase to the van.

In Bethlehem Township, the van, which they said was driven by Alexander, backed into their car, demolishing it.

An 11 a.m. hearing on other charges filed by Bethlehem Township police against Alexander, was continued by District Justice Dennis Monaghan of Bethlehem Township, also at Spirk's request, after the two men indicated they would not testify.

Spirk's request to dismiss the Palmer Township charges came after he conferred in another room with defense attorneys Gary Asteak, Heitczman and O'Hare, Cardell and Palmer Township patrolman Anthony DeMarco, Blomquist and Keiper and their attorney, Cregg Mayrosh.

Neither Keiper nor Blomquist entered the hearing room at Auch's office, and it was only after a lengthy discussion with Cardell and DeMarco that Blomquist left the car they arrived in and entered the office. They would not discuss the matter with prosecutors and police until their attorney arrived.

"Mr. Keiper and Mr. Blomquist are physically here," Spirk told Auch when the attorneys emerged from their conference. "However, they have retained private counsel, and he has advised them not to testify here today or under any circumstances.

"That leaves the Commonwealth without victims," Spirk said. "The Commonwealth asks that all charges be withdrawn, because none of the victims will testify. We have no recourse but to withdraw."

Mayrosh said, "They will not testify under advice from me," and Spirk said that although Keiper and Blomquist could be subpoenaed or otherwise compelled to testify, "Mr. Mayrosh indicated that there was nothing we could do" or offer to elicit their testimony.

A statement released yesterday afternoon by Palmer Township police says "Keiper's and Blomquist's refusals to testify came as a complete surprise to us. As late as 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, both indicated that they would testify and we were caught by a complete surprise when they did refuse to testify.